Background: Unprecedented measures have been adopted to control the rapid spread of the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic in Egypt. Pregnant women adherence to control measures is affected by their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19. Aim: Aim of the study was to assess the knowledge, practice and attitudes of preventive measures against COVID-19 infection among pregnant women. Subjects& methods: Research design: Across sectional design was used. Setting: The study was carried out in two Maternal and Child Health Centers (Alnahal Medical Centre and Sheba MCH) that are affiliated to the Ministry of Health and Population in Zagazig City, Sharkia Governorate, Egypt, between the period from January 2020 to April 2020. Subjects: All eligible pregnant women who attended for antenatal care during the study period by using simple random sampling. Tools of data collection: A structured interviewing questionnaire that consists of five parts, part one, socio-demographic and obstetric data, part two sources of information on preventive measure against COVID-19 infection, part three, knowledge towards COVID-19 infection and its prevention measures, part four practice of preventive measures of COVID-19 infection and part five attitudes towards COVID-19 infection. Results: The findings of this research showed that more than half of women (57.6%) had satisfactory level of total knowledge about the preventive measure of COVID-19 infection. However, the majority of women (87.6%) had unsatisfactory level of total practice of preventive measures of COVID-19. Educational level and multiparty were factors significantly associated with poor practice of the preventive measures against coronavirus-19 infection among pregnant women. Conclusion: The study showed that most of the participants had adequate knowledge of preventive measures against COVID-19 infection but the practice of these preventive measures were poor among the participants. Recommendations: Provide continuous health educational program on practice of using preventive measures against COVID-19 infection especially among pregnant women.

Many couples experience postpartum period of decreasing sexual satisfaction. Postpartum sexual dysfunction is a very common and relevant clinical problem, with significant adverse effects on women's health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of sexual nursing care for the postpartum period on sexual dysfunction and life satisfaction among Egyptian women. A quasi-experimental design was used to study 219 women selected using a purposive sample. The study was conducted in out-patients maternity clinic at Zagazig university hospitals, Sharkia Governorate, Egypt, between the periods from February 2019 to February 2020. Data was collected using three tools. The first: Structured interview questionnaire that consist from three parts, part one: socio demographic characteristics , part two obstetric history and part three sexual history, the second: Female Sexual dysfunction index (FSDI), and the third: Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS).Four session about sexual education was done. The Results showed an improvement in sexuality and life satisfaction after application of sexual nursing care for the postpartum period including kegel’s exercise, positioning and distractions techniques post intervention compared to pre intervention. The study concluded that sexual nursing intervention for postpartum period improve sexual functioning and create enjoyable intercourse and there was high positive correlation between sexuality and life satisfaction after implementation of the sexual nursing care intervention. The study recommended to provide counselling /training program about sexual nursing care intervention during postpartum period for nurses working in different health care settings.

Dysmenorrhea is frequently described as painful menstruation that causes lower abdomen cramps and often spreads to the thighs and lumbosacral area. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Emotional Freedom Technique for reducing primary dysmenorrhea intensity among female students. Design: A one-group pre-post-test procedure was utilized in a quasi-experimental design. Methods: A convenient sample of 161 female nursing students from Faqous High Institute of Nursing at Zagazig University in El Sharkia Governorate was assigned to participate in the study. Tools: 1) a structured interviewing questionnaire sheet and 2) a visual analog scale. Results: The mean score of the visual analogue scale was reduced among studied female students after the intervention compared to before the intervention, which was (9.2±1.3 vs7.8±1.4) with a 15.2 percent of improvement. Conclusion:The Emotional Freedom Technique effectively reduces pain intensity and dysmenorrhea symptoms, which is quick and effective for self-treatment. Recommendation: Educating all students about the advantages of the Emotional Freedom Technique for minimizing dysmenorrhea during menstruation is important.

Background: Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) prevention is the main stay and corner stone to achieve the millennium developmental goal 5 (MDG5). Maternity nurses play a crucial role in maternal morbidity reduction resulting from PPH and competency of maternity nurses directly affects quality of treatment and health outcomes. Aim: was to develop competences for maternity nurses during labor regarding prevention of primary postpartum hemorrhage. Design: A quasiexperimental design was used. Setting: The research was carried out in maternity hospital at Zagazig university hospitals, Sharkia Governorate, Egypt. Subjects: purposive sample included fifty nurses provided direct nursing care for women during labor and postpartum period. Tools: Three tools were used; a structured interviewing questionnaire, competency performance checklist for maternity nurses' practice regarding prevention of primary postpartum hemorrhage, maternity nurses attitude scale regarding prevention of primary postpartum hemorrhage. Results: The results of this study showed that there was an improvement in nurse's knowledge, practice and attitudes toward prevention of primary postpartum hemorrhage after implementation of competency nursing intervention. Also, there were positive correlation between nurses' knowledge score and their attitude scores, practice scores and age. Conclusion: there was highly statistically significant improvement in nurses' knowledge and practice level during labor to prevent primary PPH after implementation of competency nursing intervention compared to pre intervention. Recommendations: Offer training programs or workshops for developing the nurses' competency regarding primary postpartum hemorrhage prevention to develop their best practice.

Background an essential practice for safe and healthy birth is to keep mothers and babies together and ensure unlimited opportunities for skin-to-skin care and breastfeeding. Aim: To assess the effect of mother and newborn early skin-to-skin contact (SSC) on the third stage of labor and breast feeding status. Subjects &Methods: A randomized controlled clinical trial was used, and a purposive sample of 100 parturient women was recruited who equally divided into two groups. Early mother and newborn SSC was applied to the study group, while no intervention was done to the control group. The study has been conducted in the delivery room of maternity hospital at Zagazig university hospital. Tools of data collection include; an assessment sheet to elicit information about women characteristics, their condition during the third stage of labor, the infant breast-feeding assessment tool (IBFAT), and maternal satisfaction tool. Results: Women in the SSC group were significantly more likely to have shorter duration of the third stage of labor, hard and contracted uterus, less amount of blood loss as well as early initiation of breast feeding and group more satisfaction of the parturient women than the control (p<0.05). Conclusion. Early maternal and newborn SSC leads to the reduction of the duration of placental delivery, followed by hard and contracted uterus as well as less amount of blood loss after delivery. It also lead to early initiation and successful breast feeding as well as promoting mother's satisfaction. Recommendation. Maternity nurses have a responsibility to support this physiologic need through education, advocacy, and implementation of evidence-based maternity practices Keywords: Early maternal-newborn skin contact, third stage of labor and breast feeding status.